Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

In a college psychology class I had a little while ago, I wrote a reaction paper on one of the topics we talked about in class. I picked post traumatic stress disorder. So, here are some excerpts from my reaction paper - some facts about PTSD and my reaction to it.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a stress/anxiety disorder that can occur after a person has experienced a traumatic event, such as combat, 9/11, or abuse where the person experiences fear or helplessness. PTSD can cause flashbacks, and depression. Symptoms of PTSD can last from months to years after the event occurred. Also, PTSD is the most common diagnosis of patients who have experienced a traumatic event, and for a patient to be diagnosed they must be suffering from certain symptoms for at least one month after the trauma (1).

I have not experienced any life-threatening traumas nor have I had PTSD. However, I feel strongly about PTSD because I know people who have experienced trauma. I believe that PTSD is a serious psychological problem and people who have it or think they have it should seek help, because it can not only affect them but it can affect those around them too.

September 11, 2001 was a huge stressor for many people and I'm sure it caused PTSD for many people who survived it, for those who helped out and for the communities, families and friends that were affected by it. Disasters such as 9/11 can raise death anxiety; it can also cause PTSD in those who are affected by the disaster, like family members of victims, or members of the community where the disaster happened (2). Sometimes people start thinking about death after traumatic experiences like a plane crash in a community; when they see others die, that start thinking about their own death (2). People who are exposed to such disasters have a possibility of becoming a victim of a traumatic stress disorder, such as PTSD (2). September 11^th was a horrible day for all of us. It affected some of us in many different ways. It is very understandable that people have PTSD from 9/11. I even think it is understandable if people are still suffering from PTSD today, especially for people who were in on of the buildings or helped rescue. It's apart of whom they are now; it's something they won't be able to forget easily. I think it will take time to learn how to deal with what happened, with what they saw, with what they experienced. It takes time to heal; I think some people might need a longer time to heal than others. This is why I think it is still okay and understandable if people are still suffering from PTSD from 9/11 now.

Another big cause for PTSD for people is combat. War. It is said that soldiers who fight in war and see people get killed, friends get killed, or who kill others, often suffer from PTSD when they come back from war. Wounds That Never Heal mentions a man named Jerry who is a Vietnam veteran and still has flashbacks from the war; he still suffers from PTSD (3). Every time Jerry has a flashback he feels guilt and fear and sadness, it breaks through the numbness the covers his emotions (3). Even now with the War in Iraq, people say that the soldiers don't come back as the same people they left. A lot of people say many of the soldiers come back and show signs of PTSD.

War can be a very traumatic experience for those in the military. I have friends in the military, who have not yet been to war, but it could be a possibility and I realize that they could come back different people and that they could be victims of PTSD. I believe it is very important for those who come back from war with PTSD to get the proper psychological or even psychiatric treatment. I recently read on a news website about an Iraq war veteran who was suffering from PTSD; he felt suicidal and went to a VA hospital but he was turned down, four days later the man committed suicide. It is such a sad story. People who have PTSD should not be turned down, especially if they are feeling suicidal. It is a serious psychological problem and it can't heal by itself. I believe PTSD victims should get psychological help.

Other traumatic experiences that can cause PTSD are victims of abuse, rape, a plane crash, bombings, etc. In Wounds That Never Heal, a woman, Deb, who was raped says that sometimes just hearing branches and twigs crack can make her sweat and have flashbacks to that night (3). Certain things trigger the traumatic experience to come back, for people to feel it all over again. Robert Morris, who was on a plane when it hit a wall a crashed into a river, is still afraid of things that are not under his control, and he won't swim anymore (3). I think this shows how traumatic events affect ones life, not just at the time of the event but afterward, for months and years, sometimes for the rest of their life. It doesn't seem to matter what the traumatic event is, it can still cause PTSD for some people.

I've read articles about PTSD in the past and how some people think it is made up. I personally do not believe that. I don't understand how someone can say someone is making it up or that it isn't even a real psychological problem. It's hard to know what goes on in someone else's head, and how traumatic events affected them. I do not know what it is like to have PTSD but I do not think it is fake. I've heard some very real stories about it. A friend of mine is married to a marine. He was in Iraq and a grenade was thrown at him and his friends he was trying to save his friends and he was almost killed by the grenade. He watched some of his friends die. My friend says that he is a different man now, that he is depressed and has nightmare and flashbacks since he has come back, and he was recently being diagnosed for PTSD. I can see how a traumatic experience like that can have an affect on your life. I do not think PTSD is made up, and I think it is very possible that many war veterans and survivors of 9/11 may have PTSD. I believe PTSD is very real. I think it is a very serious psychological problem that won't go away quickly but I think the victims of PTSD should get professional help to learn how to deal with the traumatic event.

(1) Dene S. Berman and Jennifer Davis-Berman. Reconsidering Post-Traumatic Stress. The Journal of Experiential Education. Boulder: 2005.Vol.28, Iss. 2; pg. 97, 9 pgs

(2) Man Cheung Chung, Catherine Chung, and Yvette Easthope. Traumatic stress and death anxiety among community residents exposed to an aircraft crash. Death Studies. Washington: Dec 2000.Vol.24, Iss. 8; pg. 689, 16 pgs

(3) Goleman, D. WOUNDS THAT NEVER HEAL. Psychology Today, 00333107, Jan92, Vol. 25, Issue 1